Mona Hammond

Mavis Chin OBE, known professionally as Mona Hammond, is a Jamaican-born actress of Chinese descent and co-founder of the Talawa Theatre Company. Born in Jamaica, Hammond emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1959, where she has lived ever since. Hammond has had a long and distinguished stage career. She is best known for her work on British television, which has included various roles in sitcoms most notably playing Blossom Jackson in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She was made an OBE in the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to drama. In 2018, Hammond was awarded the Women of the World Lifetime Achievement Award for her long and distinguished theatre career and for championing Black British actors with Talawa Theatre Company.